Adjustable ski clamp



Sept. 29, 1970 G. P. J. SALOMON 3,531,135 ADJUSTABLE SKI CLAMP Filed Sept. 4, 1968 f 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.'I I

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9 ml 6R0 Attorney Sept. 29, 1970 G. P. J. SALOMON ADJUSTABLE SKI CLAMP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 4, 1968 FIG.5'

6. R J. Salomon INVENTOR m (Ra Attorney United States Patent US. Cl. 280-1135 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Heel clamp for ski binding, mounted on a baseplate with freedom of longitudinal sliding and vertical rocking whereby a set of teeth along its lateral bottom edges can be meshed, in different longitudinal positions of the clamp, with complementary serrations of a counterplate carried on the baseplate with limited rearward yieldability against a restoring force. A latch member slidably overlying the counterplate, having serrations alignable with those of the counterplate but normally maintained offset therefrom by a pair of springs supplying the restoring force, can be shifted against that force into an off-normal relative position in which the teeth of the clamp may be upwardly withdrawn from the aligned serrations and reinserted after a readjustment of the clamp.

My present invention relates to a ski binding having the usual heel and toe clamps secured to a runner for releasably engaging the boot of a skier.

In conventional ski bindings, either or both of these boot-engaging clamps may be mounted on a baseplate with limited freedom of lonigtudinal displacement for clamping and unclamping purposes. Usually, however, this adjustability is not sufficient to fit boots of widely different sizes with the necessary degree of reliability to insure retention of the boot on the runner during normal use and, in the case of safety bindings, to permit its release in response to extraordinary stresses.

It is, therefore, the general object of my present invention to provide simple but dependable means for adjustably mounting such a clamp on a baseplate, thereby allowing the binding to be fitted to boots of different sizes without complicated demounting and remounting procedures.

The above object is realized, pursuant to my present invention, by the provision of a substantially fixed mounting member on the baseplate, this member having a plurality of longitudinally spaced cutouts adapted to receive projections on the clamp which are selectively alignable therewith in different positions of the clamp relative to the baseplate. A latch overlying this mounting member has recesses which are offset from the cutouts thereof in a normal relative position of these elements but can be aligned therewith in an off-normal position to permit withdrawal of the clamp projections and reinsertion thereof in a new clamp position. Advantageously, the projections are in the form of teeth disposed along lateral edges of the clamp, the cutouts and recesses of the mounting member and the latch being in the form of serrations complementary to these teeth.

Although the mounting member may be immobilized on the baseplate, I prefer-as expressed by the term substantially fixedto design this member as a counterplate having limited mobility in longitudinal direction of the runner while being biased in a boot-engaging direction (thus, forwardly in the case of a heel clamp) by one or more springs strong enough to hold the boot firmly engaged under normal conditions of use while imparting a certain degree of elasticity to the binding. The same spring or springs may be utilized, according to another feature of my invention, to retain the latch and the counterplate in their normal relative position, locking the clamp in place, while permitting their relative shift into the offnormal clamp-releasing position in which their serrations register with each other. Coacting formations on the counterplate and the latch, defining that normal relative position, ensure a joint displacement of both against the spring force in response to pressure from the boot, thereby preventing any untimely release.

According to a further feature of this invention, the baseplate is formed with a pair of longitudinal guide tracks having a first (e.g. forward) section slidably receiving a pair of side lugs on the clamp, these lugs having a convex underside so as to enable the clamp to rock in a vertical plane whereby its teeth can be lifted out of the aligned serrations of the counterplate and latch; a second (e.g. rear) track section slidably accommodates lateral edges of the counterplate and the latch with freedom of relative shift as described above. Such relative shift may be brought about with the aid of decoupling formations in the counterplate and the latch, such as a transverse slot in the latch overlying a transverse edge of the counterplate to give access to a tool for the exertion of leverage; it is also possible to design one of these formations as a rotatable cam bearing upon an abutment of the companion element, preferably the latch.

This invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of part of a ski binding embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the binding of FIG. 1, with parts broken away;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views taken on the lines III-IH and IVIV, respectively, of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing a modification;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the ski binding of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a side-elevational view of this binding taken partly in section on the line VIIVII of FIG. 6.

The ski binding shown in FIGS. 14 comprises a baseplate 6 mounted on a runner 8 by means of screws 7. The plate 6 has a narrower forward portion with upstanding and inbent edge portions 3, forming guide tracks for a heel clamp 1, and a slightly wider rear portion whose edges form a similar pair of guide tracks 13 for a counterplate 11 and a latch 12 resting thereon. Clamp 1, having a heelengaging top ledge 1, is provided near its bottom with a pair of side lugs 2 slidably received in the tracks 3; the underside 22 of these lugs is convex, here more specifically obtuse-angled, to enable a rocking of the clamp (about a horizontal axis coinciding with section line III--III in FIG. 2) whereby the rear end of the clamp can be lifted off the baseplate as illustrated in FIG. 5. This rear end is formed with a pair of lateral fins 9 having toothed edges which mate with serrations 10 along confronting inner edges of the substantially U-shaped counterplate 11 sliding in tracks 13; the similarly shaped latch 12, also sliding in these tracks, has serrations 19 which are identical with the serrations 10 but are offset therefrom by half a pitch in a normal relative position of elements 11, 12 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This relative position is defined by a pair of upstanding end stops 21 on plate 11 against which the extremities of latching yoke 12 are urged by compression springs 16 which are anchored to posts 17, rigid with baseplate 6, on opposite sides of the runner 8. The forward travel of yoke elements 11 and 12 is limited by the tracks 3 lying in the path of stops 21.

A transverse slot 18 in latch 12 allows for the introduc tion of a screwdriver or other prying tool to exert leverage upon an underlying edge 20 of plate 11 whereby the serrations 10 and 19 thereof can be brought into mutual alignment to facilitate the withdrawal of teeth 9 therefrom by a counterclockwise tilting of clamp 1 (as viewed in FIG. 1) which may thereupon be shifted along baseplate 6 and returned to its normal attitude after reinsertion of the teeth 9 into these serrations at some other location. With the removal of the prying tool, springs 16 return the yoke elements 11 and 12 to their normal relative position locking the clamp in place. The clamp may, however, yield rearwardly (to the right in FIGS. 1 and 2), against the force of springs 16, under strong thrusts from the boot as indicated by arrow 24 in FIG. 1; the yoke elements 11 and 12 then move as a unit, without releasing the toothed fins 9.

In FIGS. 5-7 I have shown a similar ski binding wherein the counterplate l1 and the latch 12 of the preceding figures have been replaced by similar yoke-shaped elements 26 and 29 having respective serrations 31 and 30.

Springs 16 again urge these two elements into a normal position (FIG. 7) in which their serrations are disaligned, this position being defined by the engagement of the front ends of yoke 29 with upturned stops 32 on plate 26. A cam 27, rotatably positioned on plate 26, bears upon the inner bight surface of latch element 29 and has a slotted head 28 for the insertion of a screwdriver or the like; in the position of FIG. 6, this cam represses the latch 29 against the force of biasing springs 16 to align the serrations 30, 31 with each other and to allow the withdrawal of the toothed fins 9 of clamp 1, as illustrated in FIG. 5, for purposes of longitudinal adjustment. Cam 27 is shown to have a generally parallelogrammatic profile with substantially straight minor and major sides, thereby automatically locking the assembly in the release position of FIG. 6; to restore the binding to its working position, cam 27 is rotated through 90 in a counterclockwise sense (as viewed in FIG. 6) whereby springs 16 are allowed to shift the latch 29 toward the left by half a pitch of serrations 30 and 31.

My invention is, of course, not limited to the specific details described and illustrated but may be embodied in various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a ski binding having a baseplate adapted to be fastened to a ski runner, a boot-engaging clamp and mounting means securing same to said baseplate, the improvement wherein said mounting means comprises:

a substantially fixed member on said baseplate with a plurality of longitudinally spaced cutouts, said clamp being formed with projections selectively alignable with said cutouts in different positions of said clamp relative to said baseplate;

latch means having recesses offset from said cutouts in a normal position relative to said member but alignable therewith in an off-normal relative position;

and retaining means for releasably holding said latch means in said normal position, thereby locking said projections in said cutouts and substantially immobilizing said clamp on said baseplate.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said retaining means comprises spring means urging said latch means into said normal position relative to said member.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said member is limitedly shiftable on said baseplate, said spring means being anchored to said baseplate and bearing jointly upon said latch means and said member for biasing the latter in the boot-engaging direction of said clamp.

4. The combination defined in claim 3 wherein said member and said latch means are provided with co-operating formations defining said normal relative position.

5. The combination defined in claim 3 wherein said baseplate is formed with longitudinal guide tracks on opposite sides of said clamp, the latter having side lugs slidably guided in a first section of said tracks, said latch means and said member having lateral edges slidably guided in a second section of said tracks.

6. The combination defined in claim 5 wherein said lugs are disposed at a location longitudinally spaced from said projections and have convex undersides enabling said clamp to rock about said lugs for lifting said projections out of said cutouts through the recesses aligned therewith in said off-normal position.

7. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said projections are a pair of toothed lateral edges on said clamp, said cutouts and recesses being serrated edges on said member and on said latch means confronting said toothed edges.

8. The combination defined in claim 7 wherein said latch means and said member are provided with decoupling formations facilitating a relative displacement thereof by half a pitch of said serrations between said normal and off-normal relative positions.

9. The combination defined in claim 8 wherein said decoupling formations include a transverse edge of said member and a transverse slot on said latch means overlying said edge for the exertion of leverage by a tool traversing said slot.

10. The combination defined in claim 8 wherein said decoupling formations include a rotatable cam on said member and a transverse abutment on said latch means confronting said cam for engagement thereby.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,125,349 3/1964 Schweizer 280-1135 3,418,004 12/1968 Welker 28011.35

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,307,982 9/1962 France.

729,383 12/ 1942 Germany. 78,143 2/1951 Norway.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner MILTON L. SMITH, Assistant Examiner 

